I kept my mouth shut. Torchie picked up his magazine and went back to reading. I crossed the floor, flopped on my bed, and turned toward the wall. The silence in the room grew heavier with every passing minute, broken only by the rustle of each page that Torchie turned. The crinkle of the paper reminded me of the crackle of a fire.
I knew I’d been wrong to say those things to him. Wrong and rotten. Just thinking about it made me feel guilty. I took a deep breath, then told him, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” He still sounded hurt. I knew it wasn’t really okay. He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t know what to say to him.
Damn. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t even fit in with the freaks and misfits. After Torchie and the others had let me into their group so quickly, I figured things might be okay here. It was my own fault—I’d been stupid enough to believe I’d make friends. I sat on my bed and looked around. Torchie was just a few feet from me, and dozens of other kids were right down the hall. There were kids everywhere, but I’d managed to end up alone. Way to go, Martin. From the moment I’d gotten to Edgeview, Torchie had been friendly. Now he didn’t even want to look at me. I stood up and let my eyes wander around the room. The wall above my bed was bare and empty. There was hardly any sign that someone besides Torchie had lived in this space during the last three weeks.
“I’m going out,” I said.
He didn’t answer.
I left the room and walked down the hall, looking at the closed doors lining both sides of the corridor and knowing I had no place to go. Nobody wanted to see me. Nobody cared.
It felt almost like being at home.
IN THE CAR COMING BACK TO EDGEVIEW
Lucky: Mind if I turn on the radio?
Mr. Calabrizi: As long as it isn’t that modern stuff.
Lucky: Oldies?
Mr. Calabrizi: Sure.
Lucky: Hey, that new kid I told you about last month. Remember?
Mr. Calabrizi: No.
Lucky: You know, the one in Torchie’s room?
Mr. Calabrizi: Right.
Lucky: I think he might be okay. I wasn’t sure at first, but he seems like an okay guy. I’d trust him on my side if things got tough.
Mr. Calabrizi: If things get tough, leave the room. Besides, if he’s okay, what’s he doing at Edgeview?
Lucky: Hey. What about me? I’m there.
Mr. Calabrizi: [sighing] I know.
IF I TOLL YOU ONCE
If I was walking away from a bad situation, I was walking into one that was worse. I realized my mistake halfway down the hall when I came face-to-face with Bloodbath and three of his gang—Grunge, Lip, and the guy with the skull tattoo on his forehead.
“Hey, this is a toll road,” Bloodbath said, holding his hand out. “Pay up.”
“I don’t have anything,” I told him, taking a step back.
Grunge and Lip took two steps forward. “Everyone has something,” Bloodbath said.
Before I could move, Grunge grabbed me in a headlock. The sharp, ripe smell of his unwashed shirt smacked me like a punch to the nose. I tried to pull away, but his arm tightened, locking around me like a giant handcuff. Lip and Skullface flipped my pockets inside out. Three quarters dropped to the floor, followed by a fluttering green rectangle. I tried not to stare at it.
“Nothing?” Grunge asked, tightening his grip around my neck. “That don’t look like nothing.”
Lip scooped up the quarters and handed them to Bloodbath.
“Next time you lie to me,” Bloodbath said, “I’ll break something. Understand?”
“Yeah.”
Bloodbath glanced down at the floor. Since yesterday when I’d shoved it in my pocket at the arcade, I’d forgotten all about the ticket.
“What’s that?” Bloodbath asked, tapping the ticket with the toe of his sneaker.
I came within a breath of saying, It’s from the arcade. But I couldn’t. I’d given my word to keep the secret. Even after the way Torchie and the others had treated me, I wasn’t going to rat them out. At least the ticket had fallen facedown, so it wasn’t obvious that it was an arcade ticket. I tried to remember what was written on the front.
“Hey!” Grunge snapped, squeezing my neck so hard that things started to turn gray. “The man asked you a question.”
If he caught me lying, I was dead. “It’s my lucky ticket,” I said. “I’ve had it for years.”
They all laughed. “Doesn’t seem to be working very well,” Bloodbath said.
He must have given some signal, because Grunge unclamped his arms from my neck. But Grunge wasn’t quite done. Instead of just letting me go, he pushed me hard. I was already off balance. I staggered and fell.